File: 0110.00 July 29, 2021 Honourable Premier John Horgan The Honourable Adrian Dix, M.L.A. Province of British Columbia Minister of Health PO Box 9422 Stn Prov Govt PO Box 9050, Stn Prov Govt Victoria, BC V8W 9V1 Victoria, BC V8W 9E2 Email:
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[email protected] Dear Premier Horgan and Minister Dix: Re: Improvement to Pre-Hospital Care System At its July 26, 2021 Regular Council meeting, the Council for the City of Langley adopted the following resolution regarding the above-referenced subject. WHEREAS local governments have been raising concerns of long delays with ambulance response time and First Responders responding to increasing number of Medical Emergency Service Alarm (MESA) calls due to lack of inadequate number of ambulances being available. WHEREAS the recent heat wave exacerbated the shortcoming of the pre-hospital care system which created unacceptable delays in ambulance response time. WHEREAS First Responders had to respond to extraordinary number of Medical Emergency Service Alarm (MESA) calls during the recent heat wave and endured unreasonable delays in response time by the ambulance to release them from the calls. WHEREAS First Responders play an essential role in the pre-hospital care system and in supporting BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) with the delivery of the quickest possible response to patients requiring time-critical care. WHEREAS the Auditor General of British Columbia’s report, published in February 2019, on Access to Emergency Health Services provided recommendations to make transformational changes to the pre-hospital care system. WHEREAS Health Minister Adrian Dix announced on July 14, 2021 to improve ambulance response time by providing funding for 85 new full-time paramedics, 30 fulltime dispatchers, 22 new ambulances, and converting 22 rural ambulance stations to 24/7 ALPHA stations.